Personal

"No, Mom, I'm Not in a Texas Prison," and Other Updates of Note

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If you believe my grandmother, I’m apparently writing this from behind the walls of a Texas prison. If you believe the GPS unit on my phone, I’m writing this from Grand Rapids. Where, oh were, could I be?
Texas Pokey?
Funny story. So last week, my mother calls and asks, point-blank: “Where are you?”
I was brutally honest in reply: “Well, I’m on my back porch right now, with a bit of grog and a cigar. Where are you?” 
To which, she burst out in laughter. Her own mother — St. Dorothy the Matriarch — had just called her upset because she had received a collect call from a Texas prison from someone whose muffled name may have sounded like “Jay.” Of course, granny didn’t accept the call that she feared may have come from her own flesh and blood. Instead, she hung up and called my mother to demand that she figure out where I was. My mother, ever the practical sort, dialed my cell phone. So although I do intend to visit the Metroplex at some point (perhaps this fall?) to see my friends from the Denton Dallas and Beyond podcast in their natural environment, I am not presently in the custody of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
So what’s up with the prison call? It’s a scam, of course.
Social Wrap-Up
Tidings of social merriment:

  • Last night, I enjoyed wine and cheese at Reserve with my friend Michelle. The server slipped me a note with the name of an online-only wine retailer that, in her view, makes the best “nerdy whites” on the market. I’ll have to check it out.
  • Friday was WriteOn. Writers and pizza and creative brainstorming, oh my! We even had the rare twofer of Cassidy plus AdamSmash.
  • Two Saturdays ago, I had cigars and cocktails with Brian and Mark. That was fun.
  • My new department at the hospital had an “un-birthday” party recently, to celebrate everyone’s 27th non-birthday all at the same time. We went to Ichiban and had sushi and assorted adult beverages. Mmm.
  • A few weeks ago I trekked to Lansing for a recording session with Tony that transformed into a dinner (at Gilbert & Blakes) and cigar (at The Corona) extravaganza with him and his lovely better half.
  • This coming Wednesday is the monthly Cigar and Cocktail Evening, to be held at 7 p.m. at Grand River Cigar. All are welcome, no RSVP required.

Writing Deliciousness
My writing group embarked on a year-long voyage of creative discovery through the development of Mechlanberg, a steampunk-type city for which we’re all collaborating on a series of short stories.  Each member of the group is responsible for one aspect of the city’s development. My assigned area is “crime and danger.” Every meeting, we discuss and rehash various aspects of how the world functions — its history, topography, culture, economy, etc. I’ve started writing a series of short stories based on the crime/danger paradigm through the eyes of a young girl named Elyse entering Mechlanberg from the desert to become a “firefly” (a member of a prostitute’s guild). I’m underplaying some of the more “out-there” aspects of Mechlanberg lore — like memory water and tentacle forests — to focus on a character-development story arc. If I keep doing one short story each month, and each builds on the last, then I’ll have developed a novella before NaNoWriMo ’13 kicks off. Not a bad accomplishment.
Read Chapter 1 and Chapter 2, if you wish. Be ye warned: They’re both in “first draft status” (thank you, Scrivener) and haven’t been edited for word choice, detail, etc. So they’re a bit rough.
Of Marathons and Half-Marathons and Iron Men
The plan, at present, is that Tony, Jen and I will compete in the Las Vegas Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in mid November. They’re thinking “half marathon,” which makes sense given everyone’s relative level of fitness. The event is one of only two times a year that The Strip shuts down to vehicular traffic (the other time is New Year’s Eve) and the run occurs at night so the lights of Las Vegas take pride of place.
There’s also the North Country Run, an event I just learned about and fully intend to attempt in 2014 (registration for 2013 has since closed). It’s a trail run — half, full or ultra — in Manistee National Forest, presumably along a segment of the North Country Trail. Apart from a brief loop on a semi-paved road, the entire race is conducted on the single-file foot trails of the forest and includes such features as roots to trip you up, mosquitoes to drain your blood and flags to guide you so you don’t accidentally run off-trail and get eaten by a bear. Sounds heavenly.
I’m still pondering a triathlon at some point. My cousin Callista completed an Ironman event last year and that’s just freaking awesome. She worked really hard at it, and I respect her for that. I just need to work on my biking skills a bit and re-learn how to swim without a tank on my back.
Isle Royale
… and speaking of the outdoors, it’s a 95-percent probable “go!” that I’ll be doing a backpacking trip to Isle Royale National Park in late May or early June. The expedition involves an eight-hour drive to Houghton, followed by a six-hour trek by boat to the island. Spend four nights on the trail, then return the same way. Scheduling isn’t final yet — I have to stagger it with other people’s vacations and a three-night training trip to Madison, WI, in May — but I have everything lined up for a peaceful trek in the Lake Superior backcountry, with just the island’s wolves and moose to keep me company.
The Fuzzies
Readers of this blog know that I don’t post a lot of pictures. No LOLcats, no funny pictures with meme-style overprint, no “look at me, I’m drunk in an exclusive club” selfies, no “look at my hippie dinner” Instagrams.
So here’s your exception:
 
Yes. I now have two cats. Long story, but they’re fabulous little critters who are perfectly litter trained, people-friendly and just all-around adorable. Even when they wake me up at 4 a.m., having decided in their feline wisdom that it’s time for me to get up and pet them.
Meow!

Personal

Sundry Tidbits in the Life of Jason

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A handful of updates:

  • The social scene’s been a bit more active lately. On Friday I had drinks with the Irritable Bastard and V-Dub. Last week, drinks with Jared. The weekend before last, dinner in Lansing with Tony and Jen. Last Friday, we had our monthly writer’s meeting at Brittany’s house. And this week we’ve got a Cigar and Cocktail Evening on the books.
  • Stopped into Moby’s Dive Shop yesterday to inquire about additional diving certifications in the SSI world. A very nice young man introduced that shop’s training system to me. Looks interesting, and less expensive than PADI-style certification. Will have to keep advancing as the weather warms this spring.
  • I’m pretty sure that I’ve effectively geared up for the spring/summer/fall outdoor season. I’m ready to kayak and I’ve got everything in order (except for perishables) for hiking trips. Still need a bike, but I’ve got some time. Perhaps Abbi can give me some pointers on what to get.
  • Lent is upon us once again; its arrival — punctuated by the abdication of Pope Benedict XVI — marks a period of introspection and renewal in the life of the Church. I attended an Ash Wednesday prayer service at the hospital with a few of my co-workers. Over the last few days, I’ve read quite a bit about Benedict’s departure. It seems like the devout Catholic journalists (George Weigel, Kathryn Jean Lopez) seem to get it. Others clearly don’t — e.g., the scribe at FireDogLake who announced that it’s time for an LGBT-friendly pontiff. It never ceases to amaze me just how willing some people are to expound at length on subjects far outside their scope of competence.
  • Turns out that the skeleton found under a parking lot in England really is King Richard III. The last Plantagenet monarch — and the last English king to die on the battlefield — Richard’s reign marks a turning point in the life of Western Europe. What if he had beaten the Tudors? We might have been spared the schism under Henry VIII. The what-if scenarios fascinate. Hard to believe just how central a single person can be to the historical arc of a people or even a civilization.
  • More and more people are making comments about the length of my hair. My stock response: Yes, it’s getting longer. Yes, there’s a method to the madness. Yes, I’m going to look like a homeless dude for a while. Deal.
  • I’ve finished transitioning to an all-Windows technology infrastructure. I have a Win8 desktop, a Win8 laptop, a Surface Pro and a Windows Phone 8. Files are consolidated on SkyDrive and music harmonized through Xbox Music and notes standardized in OneNote. So far, so good. It feels like I’m actually part of a coherent tech ecosystem now instead of cobbling things together among different services with spit and twine.
  • I kicked up the temperature in my residence from 62F to 64F. Makes a huge difference — especially in my bedroom. A mere 2 degrees doesn’t sound like much, but means the difference between being cold at night and being deliciously toasty.
  • Obama’s State of the Union speech this week felt more like an extension of the vapid 2012 campaign than a serious statement about public policy. Obama rehashed a laundry list of left-wing talking points, many of which have no real foundation in logic. The idea, for example, that America doesn’t have a spending problem looks like willful blindness. I can only hope the House Republicans hold the line, and that the GOP gets its act together in time for the midterm elections.
  • Over the last few months I’ve felt increasingly tired and unfocused throughout the day. After a considerable amount of research and reflection, I think the problem is easily correctible: I just need to start eating breakfast and stop mainlining coffee after I hit the office. My habit lately has been to skip breakfast, drink a pot of coffee, eat a large lunch then go home to a light dinner. But the food I eat, despite falling below my calorie counts, is more on the sugary side, so I get trapped in a cycle of stimulation and crash. I’m going to try evening things out by eating a reasonable breakfast, reducing my caffeine intake and watching the sugars.
  • Note to Michigan drivers: If you want to drive 20 mph below the speed limit because the roads have a snowflake on them, fine. When you get a caravan of vehicles tailgating you because of your irrationally slow speed, pull the fuck over and let us pass. </rant>
  • On the bright side, the tree in our front yard — a mighty ash that the city forester decided needed to die — ended up chopped into bits and stored in the garage. It’s now seasoned to the point that it makes kick-ass firewood. There’s something satisfying, in a primal sense, in sitting by a roaring wood fire. Good for the soul. Especially when you’ve got some Bach playing and a glass of wine to keep you company.

Ciao.

Computers & Technology, Personal

Odds & Ends

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A handful of updates:

  • I traded up, replacing my HTC HD7 (running Windows Phone 7.5) for an HTC Windows Phone 8X. The 8X is a flagship device that’s astonishing — larger than the HD7, but lighter. Sound quality is phenomenal, boosted by the on-board Beats Audio. The 8 MP rear-facing camera rocks; I snapped a photo yesterday of a cigar I was smoking and the camera picked up with astonishing sharpness not only the fine veins of the cigar wrapper but I could also clearly see fine hairs on my wrist and even the fingerprint on my little finger.
  • I had to replace my laptop, too, because it well-and-truly died. I wanted to upgrade to a Win8 tablet but there aren’t non-RT models actually available (except for the Samsung ATIV) on the market. And the ATIV is an online-only order with a weeks-long fulfillment. So I ended up grabbing an HP Pavilion G6. It’s a perfectly serviceable machine with an AMD A8 processor, 4 GB of RAM and the usual specs for a lower-mid-grade laptop. Only glitch was that I had to buy it twice; the first model had a hardware failure straight from the box, so I had to swap it for a replacement at Best Buy. HP, your build quality is going the way of Compaq.
  • NaNoWriMo is … going. I have all the tools I need to be successful (well, almost; my Scrivener files haven’t yet synced to the new laptop — but having more than 30 GB on SkyDrive to sync on a slow connection might be the culprit) and a good plot. I’m behind on word count but at this point is more a discipline thing than an organization thing.
  • All’s quiet on the work front. Holding pattern.
  • Tony came to town yesterday. That was fun. In my head, I thought he was still going to be in California.
  • Been unusually tired lately.
  • I saw Skyfall last week. Not bad. I’ve seen people go on both directions about the film, but I thought it was a successful pseudo-reboot of the franchise.

Computers & Technology, Personal

Odds & Ends

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A handful of updates:

  • I traded up, replacing my HTC HD7 (running Windows Phone 7.5) for an HTC Windows Phone 8X. The 8X is a flagship device that’s astonishing — larger than the HD7, but lighter. Sound quality is phenomenal, boosted by the on-board Beats Audio. The 8 MP rear-facing camera rocks; I snapped a photo yesterday of a cigar I was smoking and the camera picked up with astonishing sharpness not only the fine veins of the cigar wrapper but I could also clearly see fine hairs on my wrist and even the fingerprint on my little finger.
  • I had to replace my laptop, too, because it well-and-truly died. I wanted to upgrade to a Win8 tablet but there aren’t non-RT models actually available (except for the Samsung ATIV) on the market. And the ATIV is an online-only order with a weeks-long fulfillment. So I ended up grabbing an HP Pavilion G6. It’s a perfectly serviceable machine with an AMD A8 processor, 4 GB of RAM and the usual specs for a lower-mid-grade laptop. Only glitch was that I had to buy it twice; the first model had a hardware failure straight from the box, so I had to swap it for a replacement at Best Buy. HP, your build quality is going the way of Compaq.
  • NaNoWriMo is … going. I have all the tools I need to be successful (well, almost; my Scrivener files haven’t yet synced to the new laptop — but having more than 30 GB on SkyDrive to sync on a slow connection might be the culprit) and a good plot. I’m behind on word count but at this point is more a discipline thing than an organization thing.
  • All’s quiet on the work front. Holding pattern.
  • Tony came to town yesterday. That was fun. In my head, I thought he was still going to be in California.
  • Been unusually tired lately.
  • I saw Skyfall last week. Not bad. I’ve seen people go on both directions about the film, but I thought it was a successful pseudo-reboot of the franchise.

Personal, Politics & Culture, Writing, Editing & Journalism

Assorted Reflections and Updates

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Today’s excursion into pithy commentary:

  1. National Novel Writing Month has commenced. I’m stretching my legs a bit to write a sci-fi story. My goal is to have the science be accurate but in the background; I’m really aiming for a commentary on human social evolution that just happens to bet set forward in a non-archetypal future. NaNo requires 50k words. I’m aiming for 90k, because I’d like to brush up the first draft and possibly shop for an agent or publisher. High goals, but hey. Defecate or get off the pot; I’ve been meaning to write a novel for years so why not now?
  2. To that end, I’m not only participating in local write-ins this November, but I’m also hosting one. On Saturdays at the food court at 35 Michigan. We had the first one yesterday and a baker’s dozen attended. It was great. The Starbucks baristas were friendly, too.
  3. So just about every female I’ve seen under the age of 30 seems to be wearing skin-tight clothes (including, most frequently, black leggings) paired with boots that frequently rise above mid-calf. Fashion is one thing; lemming-like wardrobes is another. At least the cellulite brigade hasn’t hopped on the bandwagon yet.
  4. Many of the regular patrons at my local cigar shop are Freemasons. They’re a cheerful, civil lot. Apparently they’re barred from asking people to join up, but they’ve hinted that perhaps I could ask questions about joining up. Alas, the Catholic Church still considers Freemasonry a grave sin. I chatted up another regular about it — a local priest, as it happens — who was quite happy to share his (utterly orthodox) knowledge of the Vatican’s perspective, with an added challenge to “return the favor” by encouraging the masons to consider membership instead in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Hmm.
  5. I refreshed my HP TouchPad to the latest release of CM9. Much improved over the version I had installed earlier this year. I also downloaded a desktop-sharing app that works flawlessly with my Win8 PC at home. Meaning, I can keep working on my novel in Scrivener on my tablet without any loss of data or continuity.
  6. Halloween was somewhat underwhelming. My office door was decorated on my behalf. I ended up doing last-minute NaNo planning with Brittany, Steve and PJ at Wealthy Street Bakery. Very helpful.
  7. The election looms. I’m planning on watching the returns with Tony in (of all places!) Southfield. He needs to fly to California early the next morning from DTW, so we’re going to watch early returns at Churchills’ cigar shop there and enjoy a fine dram of Scotch or two.  I’m cautiously optimistic that Romney will eke out a win, and I may be working Tuesday morning as a poll challenger at one of the most heavily Democratic precincts in West Michigan. Hmm.
  8. Speaking of the election, there’s been a lot of background noise about Nate Silver, the NYT blogger/prognosticator who’s been consistently “predicting” an Obama win. The whole situation annoys me. Look, as a full-fledged member of the American Statistical Association, I can say for certainty I know what Silver’s doing — he’s assessing the probability of a binary outcome, based on various undisclosed polls as inputs into his model. That’s fine. As a full-fledged member of the Society of Professional Journalists, I can say for certainty that if journalists could do stats American reporting would be of uniformly higher quality. That said, the fundamental problem with Silver’s analysis is that he’s basically got a garbage-in/garbage-out thing going. I don’t question what I understand his methodology to be; I do question the radical differences in polling that feeds his model. Polling in this cycle is all over the map. Throw crap in, you’ll get crap out, no matter how carefully you run your probability estimates. So a pox on everyone’s houses.
  9. Oh, and on top of it, American politics isn’t accustomed to a binary probability estimate for presidential elections. So moving in that direction, given that the inputs are more volatile than people give them credit for, seems like a misapplication of models. But hey, if Silver wants his 15 minutes of fame, he’s certainly earned it.
  10. I swapped out the stereo on my Jimmy a few weeks ago. The operation took longer than it should have — I needed to buy a wire harness — but I managed to get the job done without damaging anything. Yay, me.
  11. Tony I went on a brief casino trip a few weeks ago to Harrah’s Joliet and met Mark and Keren of the 360 Vegas podcast. An uproariously good time was had by all.
  12. Life at the hospital continues to pay lip service to the Chinese maxim about interesting times. I’m now officially a business analytics analyst in the Information Services team. The transition continues to unfold, so stay tuned.

November, already. Ugh. But hey — the holiday season’s a-comin’. Be glad, and rejoice.

Personal

The First Week of September

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Goodness, gracious. What a week it’s been.

  1. My poor little truck, the ugly-as-sin 1990 Ford Ranger, finally gave up the ghost. She served me well, but an emergency acceleration to avoid an out-of-control cyclist provided the final bit of torque that snapped one of the linkages in the truck’s transmission; I had to have it towed home from the employee ramp at the hospital. The old girl is now permanently decommissioned and will soon be listed in Craigslist for sale for parts. I bought the truck in August 2010 for a whopping $750 and got a full 25 months’ service with very little real trouble — a total cost of ownership of roughly $1 per day, with the only extra expenses beyond ordinary fuel and fluids being a new alternator, new light bulbs and routine tire replacement. Excellent first experience with Ford.
  2. The work of dismantling my department at the hospital continues; everyone keeps a job, but what the job is and what it entails isn’t yet carved into stone. Alaric and I met with the folks in Information Services with whom we’re supposed to work — nice people.
  3. I hosted some creative professionals on Friday night. Eight guests, tasty pizza and delicious chocolate cake (thanks, Brittany!) capped off the meeting; to celebrate the “other” Jason’s birthday, in whose honor the cake was baked, most of the group went to Celebration Rivertown for the 11 p.m. showing of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
  4. Spent a fair amount of time that should have been engaged in productive work in the evenings this week watching back episodes of Supernatural instead. Just started season 3 last night.  I was so engrossed that I even missed the new episode of Doctor Who last night. Heavens to Murgatroyd!
  5. I’m sooooo looking forward to the late October release of Windows 8, Win8 tablets and Windows Phone 8. Here’s hoping that T-Mobile doesn’t cheap out on its initial WP8 offerings … I’d offer up Tony’s firstborn child to get a Lumia 920.
  6. The next cigar/cocktail evening is planned for 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 19, at Grand River Cigar. Anyone interesting in attending who didn’t already see an invitation — let me know. The more, the merrier, and self-invites are not only welcome but encouraged.

Personal

Vegas Vacation Recap and Other Items of Note

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Back from Vegas!

I flew to Las Vegas via Minneapolis on Monday the 4th; the rest of my party arrived in The Happiest Place on Earth the day before. I prefer to fly Delta Air Lines. Because I was gone for a full week, I checked a bag for the first time since 2008 (I had to pull the NWA tag off the handle). Funny thing — although I had a four-hour layover at MSP, I got a call from Delta telling me my bag arrived at an earlier flight.

The first day consisted mostly of low-key events. After Tony, Jen and Emilie picked me up from McCarran, they dumped me off at Bally’s, where I checked in then hoofed it over to Bellagio. We had a quick lunch, did some gaming at Aria and Monte Carlo, then enjoyed a hilariously disastrous dinner at Prime at Bellagio. The dinner itself was awesome but there was a mix-up on the restaurant’s part regarding  $750 comp (we were told we had one, but when the bill came the manager said “oops” we meant a different table). After that, some drinking at Yellowtail at Bellagio.

Tuesday started with the fabulous brunch buffet at Wicked Spoon at Cosmopolitan, followed by a podcasting session with our executive casino host. Most of the day is spent doing light gambling and drinking — Jen won $1k on a royal flush at video poker at the bar at Bellagio — punctuated by a tasty dinner at Sinatra at Encore. We gambled a bit at Bally’s, Paris and Wynn but that evening featured a high degree of general crabbiness so we called it a night early. Emilie had to bow out even earlier because she flew out early the next morning.

Wednesday, I checked into Caesar’s Palace then we did our Marathon Day of Gambling at Bally’s (and Diane was working, but she didn’t remember me so now she’s dead to me). The goal was to get Jason “diamond in a day” status with Caesar’s Entertainment. We failed miserably — quarter VP will do that — but I did manage to have just shy of $15k run through under my Total Rewards card that day. Not bad. Dinner that night was at BLT Burger at Mirage, where we met two of Tony’s lawyer friends from Lansing who were in town at the same time.

Thursday was fun: After a farewell breakfast for Joe at Cafe Bellagio, Tony, Jen and I drove to Mandalay Bay to see the shark aquarium and buy Davidoff cigars, then we drove to Red Rock Canyon national park and did the 23-mile driving loop through the park. We made frequent stops to take pictures and climb upon the rocks, and if I end up headed back this autumn I may take a full day at Red Rock Canyon to hike the various trails. From there we went to Red Rock Casino — a lovely destination — then I got dumped off at Caesar’s while Tony and Jen left the Bellagio and checked into Golden Nugget downtown. I used the remainder of my evening to sit for a few hours at the Casa Fuente cigar bar at the Forum Shops, enjoying a Fuente orange label and sipping Auchentoshan and an Old Cuban while reading the news.

On Friday I sat off the gaming floor of Caesar’s and completed my annual performance review. I must say, self-evaluations are more fun with a huge breakfast, a Bloody Mary and slot machines in the background. I left Caesar’s and checked into the Cabana Suites at El Cortez. I met Tony and Jen for lunch at Binion’s Cafe then we strolled Freemont Street before deciding to tour the Mob Museum. After drinks at The Long Bar at The D, we cruised more casinos downtown then settled down for dinner at Oscar’s at Plaza. From there we toured a few more casinos then settled down for drinks at Insert Coins, a lovely video-game bar.

Saturday revealed the extent to which Vegas is great for a three-night stay. We were all fairly exhausted, so after we met for a late breakfast at Hash House A Go-Go — of course, I was up way earlier than Tony and Jen so I not only did some writing but also spent an hour or so cruising the gift shops on Fremont and even did the oxygen bar — Tony and I did some podcasting at Golden Nugget and we just sorta chilled. Ended up spending a few hours at Bar 47 at Golden Nugget, then dinner at Red Sushi. We spent a long time at the Chicago Brewing Company cigar lounge at Four Queens: I put $20 in the video poker terminal and cashed out for $70 three hours later, having consumed my weight in premium microbrews that were comped because we were playing full coin. After a quick greasy pizza run — in which I sat down with the wrong woman — we retired for the evening.

Sunday was Departure Day. Tony and Jen picked me up, then we drove to McCarran. We were on different concourses, so I had a light breakfast alone and did a bit of writing. Had a very brief layover in Minneapolis, then got back to Grand Rapids a bit early that evening — enough time to catch the season premiere of True Blood.

Excellent trip. Only catch: For longer visits, we need to do a better job of pacing ourselves so we don’t burn out so quickly. You can only eat and drink so much without sleeping before everything crashes home.

A few other quick hits —

  • The FCC has now granted my callsign: KD8SOI. I’ve already received my license in the mail.
  • Installed a 12,000-BTU window air conditioner yesterday. Despite the temperatures hovering above 90, the interior of my apartment remained comfortably cool. I couldn’t turn the inside into an icebox, but the A/C unit will keep me from sweltering during the mini heatwave predicted for early next week.
  • I’ve been asked to become a co-facilitator for NAHQ’s ambulatory care special-interest group.
  • Looks like I’ll be in San Diego instead of Italy next month. Too much has popped up that requires me to attend the 2012 Joint Statistical Meetings instead of the hoped-for Italy vacation.
  • Had an interesting end-of-the-fiscal-year celebration last Thursday: Our department director took all of her teams out for an afternoon of mandatory bowling at The Clique. “A good time was had by all.”
  • A few weeks ago I welcomed my mother and grandmother over for dinner (salmon, asparagus, rice) and hoofed it to Lansing for dinner and drinks with The Gang for Tony’s birthday.
  • I’ve been working for the last six weeks or so on a special project for Demand Media, as a featured writer for eHow Tech. I get assigned several articles per week at a significantly higher than average per-piece rate, working directly with DM staff and a single assigned copy editor. Interesting experience.

Personal

Misk-uh-LANE-us Observations

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It’s been a while since I’ve done some general-purpose updates, so here you go:

  1. Life on the home front is progressing smoothly. I’ve added a few extra things to the apartment, including a pair of lovely oak bookcases from my mother and a self-built chalkboard with magnetic primer in my office. Not bad, although I may sand the chalkboard and repaint it just to smooth it out a bit more.
  2. Two recent neighborhood additions: A new person in Apt. 3 — a “mid-20s guy” as my landlord put it — and a 1-year-old German Shepherd puppy. The latter belongs to my neighbor, a police officer, who has now joined the K9 unit with his new little bundle of black furry yipping. Which isn’t bad, actually, and I give Todd credit for bringing me cigars to defray the dog’s occasional noise. He’s more bothered by it than I am, I think.
  3. The writing group seems to be flowing well. They’re a fun(ky) bunch and although we don’t do a whole lot of writing, we do socialize and pass witticisms in lieu of generating work product. So it works out in the end. Plus there’s pizza.
  4. Time flies. It wasn’t that long ago that I sat down and thought out what I wanted to accomplish in the spring/summer seasons … and now we’re in mid-May. I won’t hit a few goals as soon as I had planned, but others are actually ahead of schedule. For example, in a few weeks I’m heading to Kalamazoo for FCC amateur radio license testing.
  5. Saw The Avengers yesterday, in 3D. It was a fun movie. The brief scene with Hulk and Loki at Stark Tower was, all by itself, worth the admission price. From a cast perspective, I have cautious optimism that Chris Hemsworth could be more than just another brainless beefcake actor and I rejoice that Robert Downey Jr. found his way again after a rough spot a decade ago.
  6. Last week I met my old college friend Matt for cigars at Grand River Cigar, but because the smoke shop was hosting a Xicar event the place was packed with more than 30 people, including a local priest, a biker with a home humidor the size of my office and several upstanding citizens engaged in local GOP politics. I lingered for more than four hours and had a couple of cigars, a few drams of Dalwhinnie and so much great conversation that I ended up a bit hoarse.
  7. A few weeks ago I attended a fun and oh-so-nerdy game night in DeWitt with a group of guys. Picture it: Three rounds of a game focused on the Constitutional Convention, with three lawyers and me. Woohoo.
  8. In a week or so Rob is hosting the next cigar night; we’ll have grilled steaks and Brad is tentatively scheduled to bring his homebrew. Should be a grand old time.
  9. Work has been crazy — I’ve had so much contract stuff crossing my desk that it’s a challenge keeping up. Nice problem to have.
  10. So … Barack Obama was outed by Joe Biden. Cute.
  11. The Vegas trip is coming up. I’m excited. We’ll start the week on the Strip and end up downtown — on Freemont Street, I hope, instead of the hoosegow.
  12. It’s still not clear where I’ll be in early August — I’ve been invited to an Italy trip with my church choir, but I’m also required to chair a session at this year’s Joint Statistical Meetings in San Diego. Of course, the two events overlap. I thought I might be able to get out of the JSM commitment, but now it appears I will be presenting a new Web strategery for our section at the executive committee meeting, so … ugh.

I’ve been reading a really rather unexpectedly snarly book about English use and abuse, but the contents leave me scratching my head. In all my years in West Michigan, for example, I can’t recall ever hearing miscellaneous enunciated as misk-uh-LANE-us.

All for now.

Personal

"I'm Dreaming … Of a Lukewarm Christmas!"

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Two separate conversations, three identical conclusions: The 2011 holiday season doesn’t really feel like anything worth celebrating. I think it, my mom thinks it, Jess thinks it. This year, the holidays seem more trouble than they’re worth.
Perhaps the unseasonably mild weather contributes; without snow and bitter cold, it feels like late spring. Not like Christmas.
Perhaps the lack of a defined routine matters. In the past, the holiday season inaugurated with a giant feast at my grandparents’ house on Thanksgiving, then progressed through the solemnity of Advent, and culminated with a two-fer of a huge family get-together on Christmas Eve night at my grandparents, then Christmas morning at home.  With my grandfather enjoying his eternal reward and the other holidays skipping around a bit (or fixed but with fewer people), there’s not a lot of joy in it anymore.
Perhaps its a sense of impatience: with myself, with the world. It’s like I can hear the clock ticking but can’t do anything about it.
Perhaps it’s an overall frustration with a whole bunch of things right now. Mostly work-related. Plus the brakes on my truck are shot, which means driving is risky.
I don’t know.
I did have some fun. Dinner and cigars in Lansing with Tony and Jen was nice. The office potluck before Thanksgiving afforded the opportunity to try a new jambalaya recipe on the unsuspecting masses. My mom’s Thanksgiving meal was lovely, as was Christmas eve, and the weekend before Christmas offered a great opportunity to spend time with the family at my grandmother’s condo. I went to the 10 a.m. Mass of Christmas Day at the Cathedral of St. Andrew; the service was beautiful and I even got a bit emotional during the singing.
And the new year should be fun — a huge dinner and open bar at a hotel in Livonia to ring in the new year with Tony and Jen. Looking forward to that.
And this week, I’m off from the hospital. Yay. And I’m actually being astonishingly productive. (Said, as laundry is cycling and dishes are drying and my email is caught-up and my task list is refreshed … while I blog.)
But still. In terms of holiday seasons, this one doesn’t rank high on the memorableness chart.

Personal

“I’m Dreaming … Of a Lukewarm Christmas!”

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Two separate conversations, three identical conclusions: The 2011 holiday season doesn’t really feel like anything worth celebrating. I think it, my mom thinks it, Jess thinks it. This year, the holidays seem more trouble than they’re worth.

Perhaps the unseasonably mild weather contributes; without snow and bitter cold, it feels like late spring. Not like Christmas.

Perhaps the lack of a defined routine matters. In the past, the holiday season inaugurated with a giant feast at my grandparents’ house on Thanksgiving, then progressed through the solemnity of Advent, and culminated with a two-fer of a huge family get-together on Christmas Eve night at my grandparents, then Christmas morning at home.  With my grandfather enjoying his eternal reward and the other holidays skipping around a bit (or fixed but with fewer people), there’s not a lot of joy in it anymore.

Perhaps its a sense of impatience: with myself, with the world. It’s like I can hear the clock ticking but can’t do anything about it.

Perhaps it’s an overall frustration with a whole bunch of things right now. Mostly work-related. Plus the brakes on my truck are shot, which means driving is risky.

I don’t know.

I did have some fun. Dinner and cigars in Lansing with Tony and Jen was nice. The office potluck before Thanksgiving afforded the opportunity to try a new jambalaya recipe on the unsuspecting masses. My mom’s Thanksgiving meal was lovely, as was Christmas eve, and the weekend before Christmas offered a great opportunity to spend time with the family at my grandmother’s condo. I went to the 10 a.m. Mass of Christmas Day at the Cathedral of St. Andrew; the service was beautiful and I even got a bit emotional during the singing.

And the new year should be fun — a huge dinner and open bar at a hotel in Livonia to ring in the new year with Tony and Jen. Looking forward to that.

And this week, I’m off from the hospital. Yay. And I’m actually being astonishingly productive. (Said, as laundry is cycling and dishes are drying and my email is caught-up and my task list is refreshed … while I blog.)

But still. In terms of holiday seasons, this one doesn’t rank high on the memorableness chart.